Poultry feeder



Oct. 31, 1 944. I Q; QALHQQN 2,361,598

POULTRY FEEDER Filed Feb. 11, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f gin/0mm .5 j/mer0. Ga 0700/7,

Oct. 31, 1944. I A. o. CALHOON 2,361,598

POULTRY FEEDER Filed Feb. 11, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l awucnfo'a fl/ er0,042/500/1,

SUM/wa S Patented Oct. 31, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POULTRYFEEDER Almen 0. Calhoon, Stoutsville, M0. Application February 11, 1943,Serial N 0. 475,547

2 Claims.

' This invention relates to a poultry feeder either for dry or wet feed,and has for the primary object th provision of a device of thischaracter which may be easily and quickly adjusted for feeding eithergrown or baby fowls or fowls of any age or maturity, the construction ofthe device being such that the fowl regardless of size or age will notwaste the feed when eating therefrom and will be prevented fromdepositing foreign materials into the device or the mixing thereof withthe feed and also to a great extent protect the feed from weatherelements.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as'thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will behereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a. complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a frontelevation illustrating a poultry feeder constructed inaccordance with my invention.

Figure 2 i an end elevation illustrating the device adjusted for feedingbaby fowls.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view showing one of the covers of thedevice positioned in dotted lines to permit filling of the device withfeed. 1 T I t 1 Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view illustrating thedevice adjusted for feeding grown fowls. I i

Figure 5 is a perspective View illustrating an adjustable partition.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view illustrating a modified form ofmy invention.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view illustrating one ofthe end Wall of the feed hopper and a slot therein for receiving a hingerod of the adjustable partition.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates as anentirety the support of the device and consists of a pair of spaced endplates 6 each of substantially triangular shape and disposed verticallyand connected by a journal rod 1, the ends of which are screw threadedto receive wing nuts 8. The journal rod I rotatably supports acylindrical shaped hopper 9 provided with an entrance Ill'extendingsubstantially the full length thereof.

By adjusting the wing nuts 8 on the journal rod, the supporting plate 6will be caused to bear against the end walls of the hopper and therebysecure the latter against rotation. This conper.

struction permits the entrance [B to be raised and lowered with respectto the ground for the purpose of permitting different size fowls to beable to eat directly from the interior of the hop- The feed may beeither dry or wet.

In constructing the entrance to the hopper, a portion of the material isbent inwardly and downwardly, as shown at II, to form a guard over whichthe fowl must reach in eating the feed from the hopper. Thi guard willtend to prevent the feed from spilling from the entrance during the timethe fowls are eating from the hopper.

The end walls of the hopper 9 are provided with arcuately curved slotsI2 to slidably receive a partition supporting rod I3. The walls of theslots adjacent the ends are cut away to form resilient tongues I4 lyingwithin the slots and acting to retain the rod I3 at either end of theslots. Said tongues are capable of flexation to permit the rod I3 to bemoved from end to end of the slots.

The ends of the slots I2 are reduced so that the rod I3 frictionallyfits the end walls of the slots to act as a retard against the rotationof therod on which is mounted a partition I5. The employment of the rodI3 in the slot I2 and the partition carried by the rod, permits thepartition to be adjusted relative to'the guard II for the purpose ofregulating the width of the opening between said guard II and partitionand through which the fowls reach the feed within the hopper. Relocatingthe rod I3 from one end of the slots I2 to the other end varies thelocation of the partition with respect to the entrance IIJ, so as toarrange the device for feeding either young or grown fowl as suggestedin Figure 3 and 4 of the drawings. When the device is adjusted forfeeding fowls of mature age, the partition I5 is adjusted into theposition as shown in Figure 4 and the entire hopper is rotated so as toraise the entrance I0 upwardly.

To feed young or small fowls, the hopper is rotated in a reversedirection bringing the guard II at the lower end of the entrance IDcloser to the ground and the rod I3 may be adjusted along the slots tothe opposite ends thereof if desired.

The partition I5 is of sectional formation, consisting of sections I6and I! slidably connected by bolts I8 having wing nuts I9. The boltsextend through slots in the section I! whereby the section I I may beadjusted on the section I 6 to increase and decrease the width of thepartition. The section I6 may have on the ends thereof guide flanges I9slidably receiving the end edges of the section II. One longitudinaledge of the section I6 of the partition is rolled on itself to form ahinged barrel 20 that frictionally receives the rod l3. The frictionbetween the barrel 20 and the rod I3 maybe manually overcome whenever itis desired to adjust the partition on the rod by rotating the partitionrelative to the rod.

End plates 2| are provided with slots 22 to receive the journal rod land normally lie between the wing nuts 8 and the end supporting plates6. The plates 21 are of elongated formation and extend vertically andterminate a distance above the hopper and are connected by a tie rod 23on which a sleeve is journaled and forms a rotatable handle 24 for thedevice. By having the handle rotatably mounted fowls will be preventedfrom roosting on the handle.

The end plates 2! are further connected bya tie rod 25 on which arejournaled oppositely extending arcuately curved cover members 26, thefree longitudinal edges of which ride the peripheral wall of the hopperand the periphery of the end walls of said hopper where the entrance It]occurs. The hinged formation of the cover members 26 with the rod 25 isof the frictional type requiring manual effort to move the cover fromone position to another. The cover members may be caused to assume thedotted line position, as shown in Figure 4, when desiring to fill thehopper with feed or for the purpose of making adjustments to thepartition or for cleaning the interior of the hopper. The end members 2|may be provided with slots 2? in which are mounted bolts 28 and nuts 29to permit the bolts to be adjusted in the slots for the purpose ofmaintaining the cover members elevated, as shOWn in dotted lines inFigure 4, or for allowing the cover members to move into engagement withthe hopper.

Figures 3 and 4 clearly show how the relative positions of the covermembers may be varied on the hopper.

In Figure 6 a modified form of the invention is disclosed wherein thecover members, handle 24 and end members 2| are omitted and the entranceof the hopper is controlled by a slidable cover plate 30 having onelongitudinal edge bent at right angles to extend into the hopper, asshown at 3!, by way of the entrance Ii]. The cover plate 39 may beslidably mounted on the hopper in any suitable manner such as providinend portions apertured to receive the journal rod 1.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be seen that a very efficient feeding device has beenprovided for fowl regardless of the age of the fowl orsize of the fowland may be readily adjusted to permit the different age fowls fed by thedevice to conveniently reach the feed within the hopper from a standingposition exteriorly of the hopper. Also, it will be seen that the spacefor obtaining feed from the hopper by the fowl can be readily varied tomake it convenient for the large or small fowl to feed from the devicewithout spilling or otherwise wasting feed.

A device of the kind shown and described in the foregoing is simple inconstruction, economical to manufacture and may be sold at a low cost.

With the parts of the device positioned as shown in Figures 2 and 3 andwhen the hopper 9 is filled with grain, the device becomes a selffeederas poultry or the like can eat readily therefrom and the feed will beself-replenishing to the outlet from the hopper. When the device has theparts positioned as shown in Figure 4, the device becomes an open typefeeder.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction,combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a poultry feeder, a rotatably mounted cylindrical shaped hopperincluding a tubular wall provided with an entrance extendingsubstantially the full length thereof and end walls integral with thetubular wall and provided with arcuately curved slots located at theends of the entrance, a rod slidable in the slots, a partitionfrictionally mounted on said rod and capable of being rota-ted thereon,and flexible tongues struck from the end walls of the hopper andextending into the slots adjacent the ends of said slots to engage andreleasably secure the rod in the ends of the slots for the adjustment ofthe partition relative to opposite edges of the entrance.

2. In a poultry feeder, a cylindrical shaped hopper including a tubularwall provided with an entrance extending substantially the full lengththereof and end walls integral with the tubular wall and provided witharcuately curved slots located at the ends of the entrance, a rodslidable in the slots, a partition mounted on said rod and capable ofbeing rotated thereon, and flexible tongues struck from the end walls ofthe hopper and extending into the slots adjacent the ends of said slotsto engage and releasably secure the rod in the ends of the slots for theadjustment of the partition relative to the opposite edges of theentrance, said partition including adjustably connected sections forvarying the width thereof and having one section thereof frictionallyjournaled on the rod.

vALlVlIElR O. .CALI-IOON.

